National Day Of Appreciation For Abortion Providers Honors Those Risking Their Lives To Provide Women Safe, Legal Healthcare

March 10 may seem like another uneventful day for those stuck in a cubicle or scampering across town running errands, but for many who take an interest in women's reproductive rights, it's a day to recognize the people who, in their own quiet way, put their safety at risk to provide women the safe and proper healthcare they are entitled to. The annual National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers on Tuesday, March 10 marks the anniversary of the death of Dr. David Gunn — who was murdered outside his abortion clinic by an anti-abortion extremist in 1993 — and is a day of appreciation for those who similarly put their lives on the line to provide much-needed abortion services, while pushing back against the stigma surrounding the safe, legal and rightful care to women.

On some days, the negative reactions to my work as an abortion provider can get the better of me and on those days it is nice to know that at least one day each year, I might receive public thanks for this work. ... On the other 364 days of the year when public thanks are elusive, however, private thanks are plentiful. I receive more “thank yous” from my patients at the abortion clinic than anywhere else. It is tempting to think their gratitude is due to the quality of care that I provide. But the sad reality is that, more often than not, I receive these thanks because many people don’t expect to receive compassionate care during an abortion.My intention to be a compassionate reproductive health care provider who trusts that my patients know what is best for them means that, in fact, I can’t not provide abortions.